December 31, 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Mark Pomerleau
The Air Force is beginning to build specialized cyber teams across the service whose primary mission is to defend local installations and critical mission tasks from cyberattacks.
These teams will ensure that a particular wing or smaller organization can complete their mission from a cyber perspective, Maj. Gen. Robert Skinner, commander of 24th Air Force/Air Forces Cyber, told Fifth Domain in a November interview.
For example, Skinner said if a wing has an F-16 unit that's responsible for offensive counter air or defensive counter air support, mission defense teams will understand those weapon system and everything that goes into making those air sorties successful as a way to defend that mission from a cyber standpoint.
As an example, an eight-man team at the 2nd Weather Group within the 557th Weather Wing monitors the network and recently discovered several “bogus” account requests. The commander, Col. Patrick Williams, said the team was able to figure out that many of the requests were either bots or foreign requests that “had no business being on that network.” By working with the Network Operations and Security Center to eliminate that activity, the number of requests dropped by 80 percent, a huge win, Williams said. He added this was done with just a nascent mission defense team given that the teams are just being filled out across the major commands now.
Skinner said each major command is at a different point in activating the teams.
In addition, Air Force leaders said the service hopes to achieve efficiencies within its entire IT and cyber defense enterprise.
The officials pointed to the Air Force's “enterprise IT as a service” pilot, which examines what efficiencies can be gained by having commercial companies conduct the IT services as opposed to having airmen maintain the IT infrastructure. One benefit of such a move could be that it frees up personnel to spend more time on cyber defense.
“Our core strategic theme is moving from IT focused delivery into mission defense teams,” Bill Marion, deputy CIO of the Air Force, said during a keynote presentation in early December.
Skinner said the service will likely be able to “re-mission” workers from their IT positions and assign them to these more active defensive roles such as mission defense teams.
These mission defense teams are different from cyber protection teams that the Air Force, and other services, provide to U.S. Cyber Command.
“In my eyes the [mission defense team] is a [cyber protection team] lite,” Skinner said. "We're very proud of our cyber protection team training and I think that the more of that I can get with our mission defense teams, the more successful they'll be and then our cyber protection teams can be really focused on the high end, the big threats that we'll run into in a peer competition and peer adversaries.”
December 13, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., said the F-35 program has moved at "breakneck speed" to get capabilities and spare parts to Israel's fighter jets.
October 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
ARMY HBP JV, Rochester, New York, was awarded a $176,241,523 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of Community Living Center and other renovations. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Canandaigua, New York, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2017 and 2019 Veterans Administration medical facilities and major projects funds in the amount of $176,241,523 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-C-0001). AIR FORCE Terma North America, Warner Robins, Georgia, has been awarded a maximum ceiling of $60,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for A-10 3D audio. This contract provides for up to 328 3D audio systems for the A-10. Work will be performed by a subcontractor in the U.S. and Denmark as indicated in the contract award and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2024. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $8,282,381 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-20-D-0005). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $21,723,507 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price undefinitized contract modification (P00003) to previously awarded FA8620-18-C-2009 for the United Kingdom MQ-9B Protector program. This contract modification provides for the design, development, integration and component level testing of additional capabilities being added to the baseline program. Work will be performed at Poway, California, and is expect to be completed by Aug. 31, 2021. This modification involves 100% foreign military sales to the United Kingdom. Total cumulative face value of the contract is not-to-exceed $94,519,758. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $10,644,519 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Medium Altitude Unmanned Aircraft Systems Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-18-C-2009). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY National Industries for the Blind, Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,404,000 modification (P00012) exercising the third one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-17-D-B003) with four one-year option periods for the advanced combat helmet pad suspension system. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, with an Oct. 26, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NAVY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, is awarded an $8,946,044 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-20-F-0360) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-15-G-0026. This modification procures non-recurring engineering support for the integration of the AN/AAQ-24 on multiple Department of Defense aircraft platforms for the Army. The engineering effort includes platform integration of modernized survivability equipment, maintainability, interface improvements and software to effective utilize the AN/AAR-61(V)1 more effectively. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and is expected to be completed in January 2021. Fiscal 2019 research development test and evaluation (Army) funds in the amount of $4,914,276 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1997010/source/GovDelivery/
May 24, 2023 | International, Land
The Swiss government on Wednesday backed the decommissioning of 25 advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks with a view to selling them back to Germany, a step that could allow Western countries to send more military aid to Ukraine.